A light in Darkness

The way that I would describe my relationship with Chelsea is that she was a light in a dark time for me. Like a lot of youth, I had a tendency to make things a lot more difficult on myself and by so doing I would go to a darker place.

Then there was Chelsea. She did things so different to any understanding of what I had. I remember at school there was a fire alarm or something that everyone was leaving the school at the same time. A girl was talking to her friend and didn't see a garbage can left in the middle of the hall and she tripped and fell right on her face.

A large group of people stood there and pointed and laughed. Chelsea came running in between the girl and the group. She fought with the laughers calling them losers and she helped the girl up. I was amazed that someone had the courage to go out of their way to stand up for someone that she was not even close to all because she believed it was right.

Another thing that I always think of is that she expected peoples best. No matter what the situation was you had to give good insight or do something great. You couldn't just be there. I didn't have a real high self esteem and this really took me out of my comfort zone.

We talked about the most random things and I can't remember them all but one that I do remember was we discussed our favorite Christmas movies. She wouldn't let me give an easy answer. When I did there had to be substance with it. Nothing was simple. When it was simple I would get a "Duh Kurt. That's dumb." That sentence was uttered often but I soon learned and I came out my shell a bit.

I have since heard someone say that in order to change the world you just need to change your attitude. Chelsea did that for me. She is still a light and inspiration to me. I now see the world so differently than I once did and that light will go on forever. I am happier today than I have ever been because I continue to build on that light.


-Kurt Anderson